TikiGuy, I like your idea brother!
I passed on one of those mugs last week at the flea market because I was trying to get it for less than the $4.00 he had on it and I simply forgot about it. Now I wish I had just given the poor guy the lousey $4.00!

On a lighter note, my wife came home with a Kahiki Headhunter mug yesterday - like I don't already have 6 or 7 of them, but I tell her that they are all different so she wont want me to sell them on ebay.

Also, my friend found a large Coco Joes pipe tray for .25 cents at a garage sale over the weekend. So I gave that a good home as well.

Okay, well I don't think that one will be topped in a long time. Getting a find cheap is one thing, but actually being paid to take one, that's the stuff Tiki-dreams are made of!
_________________:: Collecting Tiki today for a Tiki-er tomorrow ::

I missed what promised to be a great estate sale in El Segundo this morning...the ad said "50 years of collecting" or something like that...did anyone hit it?? Make me feel bad for being lazy!
Last week, I hit the California Central Coast. Checked out the Harbor Hut in Morro Bay and had some photo ops with each of their 4 tikis. On the way home, hit the Nipomo Swap meet. Hidden in one of the back rooms was a guy with the usual table o' crap. But wait...what's this?? A Harvey's Tahoe tiki mug? Trying not to look too interested, I picked it up and put it down casually. Then looked a bit more...a set of Trader Vic's Salt and Pepper shakers? Not rare, but I certainly don't have a set yet. Still trying to act cool. I ask prices. $1.00 for the mug, $2.00 for the S&P shakers (including salt and pepper) As he's wrapping up my finds, he says, "Hey, here's another mug like that." It was a Mark Thomas' Outrigger mug, from Monterey, CA. Another buck and I was hurrying outta there with my prizes! Not the ULTIMATE find, but I was still happy...

Nice scores on those tiki mugs and salt-and-peppers. A dollar is my favorite price too, but to find mugs at that price at a swapmeet is so rare. At a garage-sale, sure, but never a swapmeet.

I was wondering if anyone else knew about those tikis up in Morro Bay. I'm planning a weekend jaunt myself soon to photograph them.

Doctor Z and I did not make the estate sale in El Segundo this weekend. However, we did hit one in Torrance that paid off. I found a pair of big-eyed children paintings from the Sixties and a large 1950s show-aquarium, all framed in chrome, with its original modernist black metal stand. It looks great in my tiki room.

During today's garage-saling, the old Tiki-Luck returned. I tried my local neighborhood of Carson and stumbled upon one of those rare old-school garage sales where one of the last elderly white residents was moving out and selling all her belongings. The dealers never hunt in Carson, and the locals were only after clothes and appliances, so here was all this old Bauer and Fiesta-ware on blankets for fifty-cents a piece and plenty of other great 1950s ceramics for similar prices. I found some great tiki salt & peppers for a quarter and a cool "bowler's ashtray". Here's a photo of some of my finds:

I also picked up 30 vintage Nurse-story paperbacks for a dime apiece. Here's a couple of my favorites:

Yes, the rarely mentioned "SURFING NURSE" and "BUCCANEER SURGEON".

"Their's was a Forbidden love - She rode waves. He sold slaves!"

(Sabu the Coconut Boy encourages any lyrics to "Buccaneer Surgeon" sung to the tune of Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier").

Not that they're in demand, but I got a westwood shotglass for .25 @ a church festival. I startewd to walk through was almost out and my tiki senses spotted it from across the room. It had a little chip. But hey, it was a quarter!

Living in Maryland tiki mugs, Hawaiian items and even exotica albums are extremely rare in thrift stores and flea markets - Last Saturday I went to this giant antique fair near York Pennsylvania and got a carved wooden tiki bottle/can opener for $3.00, didn't see any tiki mugs but saw a volcano bowl that was crazed and chipped so I didn't even ask the price...Friday at the Goodwill here in Bel Air I came across the short frosted Polynesian Village mug - I nearly flipped out! Not really impressive for west coast standards but here in suburban Maryland it was a major score!

Another recent score worth noting - I went to a local Chinese restaurant to pick up carry out about a month ago - behind the bar were stacks of large Orchids volcano bowls as well as the Fu Manchu's and coconut cups - I asked the owner if he's sell me one of the bowls he said yes, I bought it for $10.00 and was quite pleased! I couldn't have gotten near one for that price on Ebay!

Sabu- I like those shakers....score!
I hit a little tiki vein at a garage sale this weekend.
3 of those special tiki leilani mugs that seem soo rare. (ha!) They are actually older & heavier than previous versions I've owned
AND
3 of those sexy Kelvins mugs.
$3 for the lot!
Also saw a bamboo bar for $300.
It was nice, but that's an awful lot at a g-sale, I think they were on glue.

Congratulations on those mugs. In my ten-plus years of garage-saling, I have yet to find a tiki leilani mug! Where are those things? I've found about 60 mugs in all - some of them quite rare, but the rarest of them all; the tiki leilani still eludes me. I don't believe there are any of them left. So sad.

Tikifish - Please don't ask me to give up my "Buccaneer Surgeon"! It looks so swank on my coffee table. But I would be willing to lend it out on an extended reading-plan. E-mail me if interested. I'll send it to you. And WHAT is a Mystery Goat anyway?

I didnt pick up my first one until a few years ago & I almost never actually run across them while hunting.
I think leilani has a bit of a bad rap.
It's actually kind of a cool mug, design wise & very grip-able. I think the reason there are so many out there is that they are short, quite solid, & built like a brick. Therefore they almost never break & hang around forever waiting for us to find them.
You're next!